Researching Michael Flynn

Flynn began his career with Newport County, becoming a professional with Barry Town before his break out with Championship side Gillingham. He appeared 91 times for Bradford City. He returned to Newport County and played while obtaining his UEFA Pro License.

Flynn became caretaker manager of Newport County in 2017 amid a relegation battle. After 2017's 'Great Escape', Newport County won FA Cup fixtures against Leeds United, Leicester City and Middlesbrough. In the 2018–19 season Flynn led Newport to the 2019 EFL League Two play-off Final against Tranmere Rovers. In Cup competitions Newport also played Premier League teams in 2018 Tottenham Hotspur, in 2019 Manchester City and West Ham United. In the 2020-21 EFL Cup Newport beat Championship clubs Swansea City and Watford before losing on penalties to premier league club Newcastle United. In the same season Newport lost to Premier League club Brighton & Hove Albion on penalties in the FA Cup and again reached the League Two playoff final, losing to Morecambe 1-0 after a controversial 107th minute penalty. Newport faced Southampton of the Premier League in the second round of the 2021-22 EFL Cup but they lost heavily 8-0.

After leaving the military, in October 2014 he established Flynn Intel Group, which provided intelligence services for businesses and governments, including in Turkey. In December 2015, Flynn was paid $45,000 to deliver a Moscow speech at the ten-year anniversary celebration of RT, a state-controlled Russian international television network, where he sat next to Russian president Vladimir Putin at his banquet table.

In February 2016, Flynn became a national security advisor to Trump for his 2016 presidential campaign. In March 2017, Flynn retroactively registered as a foreign agent, acknowledging that in 2016 he had conducted paid lobbying work that may have benefited Turkey's government. On January 22, 2017, Flynn was sworn in as the National Security Advisor. On February 13, 2017, he resigned after information surfaced that he had misled Vice President Mike Pence and others about the nature and content of his communications with Russian ambassador to the United States Sergey Kislyak. Flynn's tenure as the National Security Advisor is the shortest in the history of the position.

In December 2017, Flynn formalized a deal with Special Counsel Robert Mueller to plead guilty to a felony count of "willfully and knowingly" making false statements to the FBI about the Kislyak communications, and agreed to cooperate with the Special Counsel's investigation. In June 2019, Flynn dismissed his attorneys and retained Sidney Powell, who on the same day wrote to attorney general Bill Barr seeking his assistance in exonerating Flynn. Powell had discussed the case on Fox News and spoken to President Trump about it on several occasions. Two weeks before his scheduled sentencing, in January 2020 Flynn moved to withdraw his guilty plea, claiming government vindictiveness and breach of the plea agreement. At Barr's direction, the Justice Department filed a court motion to drop all charges against Flynn on May 7, 2020. Presiding federal judge Emmet Sullivan ruled the matter to be placed on hold to solicit amicus curiae briefs from third parties. Powell then asked the DC Circuit Court of Appeals to compel Sullivan to drop the case, but her request was denied.On November 25, 2020, Flynn was issued a presidential pardon by Trump. On December 8, 2020, Judge Sullivan dismissed the criminal case against Flynn, stating he probably would have denied the Justice Department motion to drop the case.

On July 4, 2020, Flynn pledged an oath to the pro-Trump QAnon conspiracy theory, and as Trump sought to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in which he was defeated, Flynn suggested the president should suspend the Constitution, silence the press, and hold a new election under military authority. Flynn later met with Trump and their attorney Powell in the Oval Office to discuss the president's options. Trump denied reports that Flynn's martial law idea had been discussed. On January 8, 2021, Twitter permanently banned Flynn, Powell and others who promoted QAnon.